Chapter 1 An Unforeseen Turn of Events

The people Zhuang Erchang had invited, the moment they appeared, destroyed the Wu Gong patriarch's gu pot, clearly not taking him seriously.

For a gu master, being approached by a Shou Sui meant losing half their life. Furthermore, even his gu pot for refining gu was destroyed, which was equivalent to ruining all his skills. It was like a Shou Sui losing all their Daoist cultivation. To still see him as a formidable enemy would be a joke.

Unexpectedly, the Wu Gong patriarch suddenly raised his head, his face full of resentment, staring at them and uttering hateful words.

Mine owner Zhuang Erchang smiled and glanced at him, saying, "Old Brother Wu, you were the one who became ambitious first. You sent people outside to spread gu and then ran into our mine pretending to be a good person, acting on both sides. Did you think I couldn't see through it?"

"Now that you've suffered a loss here, you brought it on yourself. There's no need to feel so wronged, is there?"

"..."

The Wu Gong patriarch gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "But you've destroyed my gu worms, so no one can control Wu Song anymore. He won't let you off..."

"Wu Song?"

Mine owner Zhuang Erchang laughed upon hearing this, pointing to the few Wu people who had been thrown off their horses, saying, "Weren't they the ones spreading gu outside all this time?"

"Even now, you're still trying to talk your way out of it. That son of yours that no one's ever heard of is just something you made up, isn't he?"

"You used the excuse of someone spreading gu outside to put pressure on us, just so we wouldn't discover your tricks in refining gu in this valley. I know every bit of this blood food mine by heart. How much evil energy have you stolen under the guise of refining gu? Do you think I don't understand?"

"..."

"..."

Listening to his somewhat teasing questions, the Wu Gong patriarch's face turned ashen as he slowly closed his eyes. After a long while, he slowly opened them and said in a low voice, "The gu these past few days was indeed arranged by my clansmen."

"But Wu Song is real, and he was the one who initially sealed off your blood food mine."

"But when we decided to come here, he inexplicably withdrew. I had no choice but to arrange for my own people to release gu, to avoid arousing your suspicion..."

"But now that my refined gu worms have been destroyed, and there's nothing to restrain Wu Song, with his madness, you..."

"..."

"What the hell?"

Looking at the Wu Gong patriarch's grim expression, everyone's first reaction was to laugh. However, because his expression was too serious, they couldn't laugh, and their expressions became somewhat complicated.

Ever since the helpers from Zhuang Erchang's master's sect and the Yiqian Sect arrived, the Wu Gong patriarch's painstakingly laid out plan seemed to have become a joke.

His method of feigning one intention while secretly pursuing another had been seen through, and even the people he had arranged in the forest outside, feigning the release of gu to cooperate from within and without, had been found. He had lost all face.

Now that things had come to this, instead of honestly admitting defeat, why was he still saying such ridiculous things?

The brocade-robed old man, surrounded by others, frowned slightly and sneered, instructing Zhuang Erchang, "At this point, we should go and see the Shituo first."

He glanced aside and said to the people beside him, "You killed this crazy Wu person without even checking how many people are in your own village. Relying on a few tricks of releasing gu, you dared to covet the Shituo. You truly brought disaster upon yourselves."

Saying this, he was about to move forward. The two people who had come with him each stretched their muscles and walked toward the Wu Gong patriarch.

These two also seemed to be of the Shou Sui path. They looked to be around thirty years old, with sturdy builds and a sinister aura. Just by looking at them, one could tell they had seen blood.

Seeing the murderous intent on their faces, the Wu person youth beside Wu Ya suddenly roared and was about to jump up to fight them.

However, the two only glanced at him and suddenly shouted, spitting out a ray of bloody light, which struck the Wu person youth in the chest. He fell straight back, a bloody hole in his heart, and died on the spot.

Seeing the youth die, both the Wu Gong patriarch and Wu Ya were filled with shock and anger. However, the two didn't care at all, smiling faintly as they walked forward, about to kill them.

Seeing this group appear and act so fiercely, not taking anyone seriously, Zhou Datong and the others were also greatly shocked, eager to try and help. However, Old Suanpan glared at them, temporarily stopping them.

Seeing the Shou Sui approaching, the two gu masters were helpless, and everyone was terrified. Suddenly, a bamboo flute sounded from outside the silent valley.

The flute sounded extremely abruptly, and the tune was strange, as if it were right next to the valley, only a wall away, a distance of a few dozen feet.

Wu Ya, who was full of panic, suddenly raised her head, her reddened eyes filled with tears, but her voice already had a hint of joy, "Brother?"

The Wu Gong patriarch's face changed, his voice trembling slightly, "He's finally here?"

"Is there really someone nearby?"

Also listening to the flute, Zhuang Erchang and the brocade-robed old man and his group were also slightly startled, stopping their steps and looking at each other. They had checked the surroundings before entering the valley, and there shouldn't have been anyone else besides these gu releasers.

But the flute was real, right beside them, and listening to the tune, it was definitely a member of the Wu people. One could even be sure that it was the bamboo flute used to drive away gu.

As the sound of the bamboo flute gradually drifted closer, getting closer and closer to the valley, everyone's hearts became increasingly cold and depressed, as if the flute had some kind of magic that could stir up the fear in people's hearts.

The brocade-robed old man, listening to the flute, suddenly gasped, his ears twitching, as if he heard some strange noises other than the flute.

Ever since entering the valley, he had been calm and composed, but now his voice suddenly had a hint of panic, and he turned around abruptly, shouting:

"Something's wrong, be careful..."

"..."

Before he could finish speaking, everyone saw a black wind suddenly sweeping in from outside the valley, with great force. But wind is an invisible thing, so how could it be seen?

It wasn't until the wind got closer that they suddenly realized that it wasn't wind, but a dense, dark mass of bees.

Each of them with stingers raised, vibrating their wings, sweeping in like a blanket covering the sky and earth. Everyone on the scene felt their hair stand on end, and the endless buzzing sound poured into their ears, as if their hearts were itching.

"Gu bees..."

Not to mention others, even Old Suanpan felt his hair stand on end at this moment, crying out in a lost voice, "Quick, run for your goddamn lives..."

While shouting, he ran towards the wooden house. He had only run a few steps when he saw Zhou Datong, Zhou Liang, Zhao Zhu, and the others had rushed ahead of him, running even faster than him.

"Stand behind me!"

At the same time, the brocade-robed old man reacted, suddenly stepping forward, his right foot landing firmly on the ground, actually creating a clear pit in the ground. Then, he took a deep breath and suddenly chanted obscure incantations quickly.

The air in front of him seemed to darken, and a gloomy mist appeared. The bees that were covering the sky and earth crashed into him and fell one by one.

But the swarm of bees was extremely powerful, endless and continuous. The brocade-robed old man could only hold on, forcibly resisting the swarm of bees in this situation where the consumption rate was completely different, barely protecting the disciples and Dharma King following him.

"It's Wu Song..."

At the same time, the Wu Gong patriarch's face was ashen, his lips trembling as he said in a low voice, "It really is him..."

"Only he can always refine gu like a nightmare..."

"..."

He seemed to be saying this to Wu Ya, but he no longer looked at her. Instead, he suddenly lunged forward, seeing the gu worm nailed to the ground, the gu pot completely silent. A look of resolute ruthlessness appeared on his face.

"To deal with Wu Song, there is only one way..."

Saying this in a deep voice, he suddenly took the opportunity to struggle and crawl to the side, where the piles of black tai sui were. Usually, these things had to be cleared regularly to avoid affecting the harvesting.

But now, the Wu Gong patriarch suddenly crawled over, pulled out the curved knife from his waist, and cut off the black tai sui piece by piece. Then, taking advantage of the chaos, with no one paying attention to him, he dragged it to Wu Ya's side and piled it in front of her.

"Wu Ya, eat it!"

"..."

Wu Ya suddenly raised her head, her expression terrified, looking at her father and shaking her head repeatedly, her expression full of fear and resistance.

"Eat it!"

The Wu Gong patriarch's voice suddenly rose, scaring Wu Ya into a shiver. Looking at Wu Ya like this, the Wu Gong patriarch realized that he had frightened her. He softened his voice and said in a low voice, "This is the will of the Wu God."

"This is your fate, Wu Ya!"

"Your brother is almost here. You can only awaken the Wu God to kill him and take his gu..."

"..."

Wu Ya's face showed an extremely painful and fearful expression, but the fresh smell exuding from the freshly cut area of the black tai sui in front of her rushed into her nose.

Her eyes seemed to have suddenly turned into snake-like vertical pupils for a moment, only a fleeting moment. But Wu Ya also seemed to have suddenly made a decision, reaching out and grabbing a small piece, stuffing it into her mouth. Then, she directly grabbed a large piece and began to devour it.

After only a few bites, her face had already turned green, her expression manic, but she ate even faster, completely unlike the bright and beautiful girl she had been before.

The Wu Gong patriarch looked at her like this, a look of satisfaction on his face. He slowly held the gu pot that had been shot through on the ground in his hands, as if he could feel the worms inside were slowly recovering, coming back to life.

He took a deep breath and chanted in a low voice, "One should use the three souls to nourish the gu energy, inviting the Wu God to descend with his Dharma body, protecting my Wu people for thousands of generations, may the valley be prosperous and the crops abundant, far from the scourge of war."

"Eat, Wu Ya, you will become the Wu God's gu holder..."

(End of Chapter)